Wheat Ridge

History

Although Wheat Ridge is a relatively young incorporated city, it has a history based on agriculture and its location along regional travel routes. It grew from a popular rest stop for travelers during the Gold Rush of the late 1850s to an agricultural and suburban community known as the “Carnation City” in the mid-1900s. As the residential areas of unincorporated Jefferson County grew during the 1950s to provide housing to the Denver workforce, the major transportation corridors extending from Denver developed with commercial services. During that era, the formation of numerous utility and fire protection districts provided these unincorporated areas with urban services. Eventually, due to the increasing annexation pressure from nearby municipalities, Wheat Ridge incorporated in 1969.

Geography

Wheat Ridge is located at the junction of Interstate 70 and Colorado State Highway 391 in central Colorado. It is immediately west of Denver and north-northwest of Colorado Springs. Wheat Ridge is located in the Colorado Piedmont on the western edge of the Great Plains just east of the Front Range of the Southern Rocky Mountains. Clear Creek, a tributary of the South Platte River, flows east then northeast through the city. Lena Gulch, a tributary of Clear Creek, flows northeast through the southwest part of the city. As a suburb of Denver, Wheat Ridge is part of both the greater Denver metropolitan area and the Front Range Urban Corridor. It borders other communities on all sides including: Arvada to the north; Lakeside, Mountain View, and Denver to the east; Edgewater to the southeast; Lakewood to the south; Applewood to the southwest; and Fairmount to the northwest.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  81,581
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  69,695
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  68,824
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  58,486
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  56,156
• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  53,989
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  51,292
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  49,267

Largest nearby schools

• Astravo Online Academy High School
  High · LAKEWOOD · 2,134 students · 52:1 ratio
• Lakewood High School
  High · LAKEWOOD · 1,885 students · 18.9:1 ratio
• Ralston Valley Senior High School
  High · ARVADA · 1,843 students · 21.2:1 ratio
• Arvada West High School
  High · ARVADA · 1,840 students · 20.4:1 ratio
• Bear Creek High School
  High · LAKEWOOD · 1,431 students · 17.9:1 ratio
• Golden High School
  High · GOLDEN · 1,416 students · 21.5:1 ratio
• Standley Lake High School
  High · WESTMINSTER · 1,180 students · 18.7:1 ratio
• Pomona High School
  High · ARVADA · 1,132 students · 19.2:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 3 — 2025-10-17
  11 km NNE of Black Forest, Colorado
• M 2.7 — 2025-06-13
  7 km SE of Erie, Colorado
• M 2.5 — 2020-10-24
  2 km ESE of Georgetown, Colorado
• M 2.9 — 2019-03-30
  7 km NE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 3 — 2016-11-06
  8 km ENE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 2.7 — 2016-11-06
  8 km ENE of Greeley, Colorado